Top 5 classical music events this fall

The La Jolla Music Society: The Silk Road Ensemble

MCASD Sherwood Auditorium - 6 p.m. Oct. 20, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla. $65. 858-459-3728 or ljms.org. Don’t even think about calling it crossover, or world music, or classical. This distinguished, diverse, innovative, eclectic and sometimes electric ensemble plays music, and unless you are without a pulse, there’s something in it for you.

2

Lang Lang plays Rachmaninoff

San Diego Symphony - 8 p.m. Oct. 26, Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown. $30-$100. 619-235-0804. Given the number of remarkable pianists roaming concert stages worldwide, it’s silly to say one is the best. So I’ll hold back and just say: With Lang Lang playing the Rach 2, you are not likely to be disappointed.

3

Chinary Ung Celebration

UC San Diego - 7 p.m. Nov. 13, Conrad Prebys Music Center, UC San Diego campus. $15.50. 858-534-3448 or musicweb/ucsd.edu/concerts. Composer Chinary Ung is a legend in his homeland of Cambodia. In San Diego, where he serves on the composition faculty of UC San Diego, he’s a treasure. This concert pays tribute to his 70th birthday.

4

Art of Élan with Sacra/Profana

San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park - "Reflections — on hope"; 7 p.m. Nov. 26, $20-$25. 619-232-7931 or artofelan.org. Two of San Diego’s most vital, young and energetic classical music organizations collaborate in a program that includes Michael Gandolfi’s “Winter Light” (for chorus and string quartet) and John Tavener’s "Song of the Angel."

/ Laura Embry/U-T San Diego/Archivo

5

Camarada: “Mingle @ the Mingei — Java Bach

Mingei International Museum - 6 p.m. Dec. 1, Balboa Park. $30. 619-231-3702 or sandiegochambermu.... You always hear about Bach’s Coffee Cantata, but have you ever heard it? Now you can (with soprano Jessica Aszoda) on a civilized program that also includes Bach’s B minor Suite for flute and strings, Aristi’s cantata, “Pur gentile al fin viola,” and Pergolesi’s “Sinfonio de Lo Frate ’nnamorato.”